Phoenix
by Storm racer
Summary: An Autobot youngling escapes the Decepticons and finds himself alone in space.Can he get to Earth and fnd the others?


Hasbro created transformers I do not own any part of them, nor any other characters in this story apart from Phoenix.

I got this idea one day when I came across a picture of a Phoenix.

Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

Phoenix

In the outer reaches of the universe a mystical creature floated silently among the stars, the memories of his final day on Cybertron a constant companion. Out in the black expanse there was no escape for the youngling; he could still hear the screams and the clang of metal against metal as the Decepticons started to make their push for Cybertron. Every now and then he'd come across a planet but when he run his scans he couldn't find any sign of sentient life. He was named Phoenix by his creators and was the only survivor left when the youngling's residence was attacked, everybody else had been killed. He was frightened…very frightened! Phoenix hadn't started his training yet, he was too young but he had met his trainer who was killed defending the youngling's residence. There was nothing else for the youngling to do but flee, and flee he did!

* * *

Three vorns earlier

Once the Decepticons had destroyed the building they walked through the residence to look for survivors with an order of shoot anything that lives or moves. Phoenix watched with horror from his hiding spot as the Decepticons edged closer and closer to the terrified youngling. Soundwave picked up Phoenix's signal,

"Ravage mission; find Autobot! Kill Autobot!" he ordered in his deep voice.

The youngling saw the robotic panther walking through the smouldering wreckage, his feet trying to find a steady foothold. He lifted his head, his ruby optics glowing against his dark armour searching for his prey. It wasn't going to be hard; the mech was black with bright orange hands, face and feet. He had a crest on top of his head which was black at the bottom but as his crest rose off his head the black became orange. Then there were his optics, they were…unseen, covered by a visor which could be retracted when he wasn't in a combat situation but at the moment it was down. This was to protect his optics from the searing heat caused by the blast to the youngling's residence and to help him see where he was going through thermal imaging. Phoenix looked around his surroundings and could see a clear path but at the moment he was hemmed in by Ravage and his handler, Soundwave. He knew about the cobalt blue mech and his treacherous ways of torturing a transformer. The youngling really didn't want to go there.

Suddenly Ravage caught movement under a piece of furniture where Phoenix was hiding, he jumped from his perch and started to run towards the hiding place. Phoenix caught the movement out of his peripheral vision and fled from his hiding spot. He did have weapons but he hadn't learnt how to use them yet, that _was_ going to be part of his training. Phoenix knew if he was to survive in space he would have to learn how to use them, and decided that once he had escaped and put enough distance between himself and Cybertron he could start practising them. The mech run, stretched out his arms to the side and unfolded his wings, then he launched himself into the Cybertronian sky; using his fire cannons in his back to boost his take off for a quick retreat. Flying was his thing; he didn't need to transform to fly like the seekers, his metal wings concertinaed and folded into his sides when he didn't need them.

As he took off he looked behind him, the wreckage of the younglings quarters were still ablaze in places. The Decepticons walked easily through the wreckage showing total disregard to the fallen younglings covered by their fiery grave, and he could still hear the screams of mechs and femme dying in the battle. He cried out in grief for his friends and his home, uncertain of the future. He then looked to the void ahead and continued to fly into it, his body slowly fading out of sight. Every now and then a shot from a seeker would narrowly miss him, or he'd dodge to avoid it. He continued to fly out into the black star speckled expanse, longing for the void to engulf him; looking behind him once more to bid farewell to his beloved home, Iacon which he knew he'd never see again.

He'd lost count of the vorns he'd been floating through outer space, the stars his constant companion. He hadn't seen any other life form or transformer; loneliness had become his friend, lack of energon was becoming his enemy. Because he floated he didn't use a lot of it but he still needed it for his systems which were beginning to drain the last few cubes he had left. Things were looking grim! He didn't know that Optimus Prime had sent the Allspark into space and he didn't know that their war had been taken to a planet in another universe called Earth.

The youngling was beginning to lose hope as he continued drifting through space. He knew he'd grown; his body was making more demands for energon. He thought about all the fun he'd had playing with Solar flare, his brother and Eclipse, his sister. His spark became heavy as he thought about them and wondered how they'd fared. He thought that maybe Solar flare would have signed up for war, he was talking about joining the Autobots but Eclipse was much younger than him, she was still a sparkling when he was moved to the youngling's quarters.

Suddenly he saw something coming towards him, flying at great speed. It looked like a…seeker? It was certainly not something _he'd_ seen before. His curiosity was aroused and his scanners were working hard trying to pick up a signal. Phoenix was wary of the strange creature flying towards him. Once again he trained his scanners on it, "_Frag…it's a Decepticon!" _Not only was he Decepticon but he was Starscream who had fled Mission city after Megatron fell at the hands of Sam Witwicky. The mech frantically looked around for somewhere to hide but there was nowhere. He still didn't know how to online his weapons or use them, what was he to do? He desperately tried to think of something but was finding it difficult and was becoming more confused, _"Nowhere to hide, he's going to see me soon. Surely he's picked up my signal,"_

Starscream saw what looked like a Cybertronian flying towards him, "_Well, well, well, what do we have here?"_ he thought to himself. His scanners picked up the youngling's signal and altered course to head towards him. The mech knew there was only one thing he could do...online his weapons systems and teach himself, _"Now or die,"_ Phoenix thought and transformed his arm into a cannon, he could feel energy surging through his body into the cannon as he prepared to use it. Starscream stopped,

"Autobot, what is your designation?" The orange and black mech stopped, but kept his weapon trained on the Decepticon,

"Autobot, what is your designation?" Starscream said again more impatiently.

The mech didn't answer; he remembered his father's warning to never give a Decepticon your designation if they didn't know it. He believed that if they didn't know your designation then it would be harder to kill you. How wrong his father was! The Decepticons had very little respect for any sort of sentient life, even life of their own kind. Starscream went to fire at the orange and black mech but before he could the mech fired at the Decepticon. As he released the trigger to the cannon he felt the energy being released as a long flame came out of his cannon disturbing the darkness of space. He heard the Decepticon scream as the heat from the flame started to burn his armour. Starscream was exhausted from the battle and the flight through space. He knew that he would be no match for the flame throwing youngling and fled,

"Woah," the Autobot said to himself, "Awesome!" but he noticed a lot of his energy reserves had been used. Suddenly a broken transmission came through his communication systems,

"I am Op………me an……….end…….mes………to…..all……..tobots…..,"

Phoenix couldn't understand most of the message; he certainly didn't know who the mech was sending it but guessed from the last part of the message that he was Autobot. He set his navigation signals to the co ordinates the message came from and continued floating through space. He thought about communicating with whoever sent the message but decided against it, if there was one Decepticon, there could be more.

* * *

Maggie sat at the computer with Glen in the area of the base used by the signal analysts. She was coming close to the end of a long shift and was beginning to feel a bit jaded. Glen wasn't feeling very well that day and wasn't really concentrating. He was showing symptoms of the flu and had spent the day continually moaning about it. Maggie started to get very annoyed about this and by lunchtime suggested he go home because he wasn't helping her at the moment. Glenn decided stay there for the day, but remained quiet. A phone call came through for Maggie, she asked Glen to take her spot so she could take the call. While he was moving across to her seat he picked up a faint blip on the computer and nudged Maggie in the side. She looked at Glenn, and then looked in the direction Glan was looking toward the monitor. They both looked at each other in amazement; there hadn't been any new Autobot arrivals since Skids, Mudflap and Jolt six months ago,

"Something has shown up on the radar," the pair yelled together. Optimus Prime and Ratchet ran to the screen and looked. They couldn't tell if it was Decepticon or Autobot he was still too far away,

"Keep an eye on it" Optimus Prime said as Ratchet tried to get a hold on the signature. He shook his head and walked away.

Maggie looked toward the green medic then toward Glen, a worried frown on her face. She'd never seen Ratchet look so disappointed and wondered what was bothering him. Jolt noticed it too, he walked up to Ratchet,

"You okay?" he asked, Ratchet snorted and walked off.

Ironhide watched the scene and followed him, he knew Ratchet was hoping that every signal on the screen would be that of his bonded mate. Ironhide and Ratchet were both very old friends who had grown up together, both of them had had enough of fighting but the Decepticons just wouldn't let the war end. There had been a lot of attacks happening all over the world, the latest one in Shanghai.

* * *

Phoenix picked up another signal; once again Decepticon. _"Frag!"_ he thought to himself. The last time he used his weapons it used up a lot of energon. He wasn't sure if he had enough energon to bring his weapon online let alone use it. Phoenix tried….nothing! He tried again…still nothing. What could he do? He watched helplessly as the Decepticon's signal got closer. He could now pick up who it was…Soundwave! _"No!"_ Phoenix thought to himself. The youngling started to panic and wasn't looking where he was going. He didn't notice the meteor belt he had drifted into nor did he notice the huge lump of rock which he collided with,

"Aaahh!" he screamed as the jagged edges of the rock ripped into his body.

It knocked him into another rock where he landed. He was about to take off again when he noticed he wasn't picking up Soundwave's signal which meant Soundwave wasn't picking up his signal either. He sat on the rock and examined his injuries. There was a scratch across his chest but it wasn't deep and wasn't leaking energon, he had another one on his side which once again wasn't deep but what really worried him was the smoke coming out of his chest, rendering his navigational system offline,

"This could be a problem," he said to himself.

Part of his training would have incorporated repairing minor injuries until an on field medic could get to him. He hadn't received any training though and when he tried to connect the two ends of wire they sparked, making the orange mech jump.

There was nothing else Phoenix could do, he looked around at his surroundings. The rock was huge and grey with potholes, valleys and spikes jutting into the dark expanse. It was moving very fast, twisting and rolling making the mech's navigation circuits work overtime. He knew he would have to leave but decided to wait a bit longer so he could be further from Soundwave. What he didn't know was Soundwave had been attached to a satellite and was now preparing to enter Earth's atmosphere and search for Megatron and Starscream. He was also aware that if he spent too long on this meteor he would be disorientated.

Phoenix heard a noise and peered up from his hiding place, it was the strange jet again with another grey coloured Decepticon he recognised to beMegatron. They were fleeing after the defeat in Egypt The youngling quickly ducked down into his hiding place and waited until they were well out of sight before taking off again. Another transmission came through his communication system.

* * *

Blaster was on duty at the computer, he'd been watching the strange blip Maggie and Glenn had found with great interest. It had edged gradually closer than disappeared, but now it had reappeared, Blaster briefly picked his signal up before it disappeared again, "_Slag!" _he thought. Blaster decided to try to communicate with whoever it was,

"Are you Autobot or Decepticon?" there was no answer so he tried again,

"Identify yourself. Autobot or Decepticon,"

Phoenix heard the transmission but didn't know what to do. He'd seen Decepticons all around and to communicate with whoever was talking to him would endanger him even more. Then he had an idea,

"Can't transmit! Not secure!" there was a crackling sound then another transmission came through,

"If you are a Cyberteronian open your private comm. Link," Phoenix did as he was told,

"Now give me your designation Cybertronian. I am Autobot, designation Blaster. Who are you?"

"I'm an Autobot designation Phoenix,"

"Phoenix, never heard of an Autobot called Phoenix,"

Blaster turned around from the desk and asked if anybody had heard of an Autobot called Phoenix, everybody looked at him with blank looks. Chromia and Arcee walked into the base after their patrol duty. Chromia was looking forward to a long shower and spending time with her mate ,

"What's up with all of you?" Chromia asked, Blaster turned to her,

"You heard of some mech called Phoenix?"

"Phoenix" she said as she searched her files, "No not Phoe…hang on a minute. There was a Phoenix in the youngling's quarters when it was attacked by the Decepticons. He wasn't accounted for among the dead or survivors,"

Everybody looked at the blue femme.

"Does that mean… he's been alive all this time?" Blaster asked. Ratchet had come out of his med bay to grab a cube of energon. He looked at the group standing around the screen and walked towards them,

"What are you fragging glitches up to now?" he asked as he pushed his way through,

"We think there is an Autobot out there. His designation is Phoenix and he was a…"

"Youngling unaccounted for," Ratchet interjected, "Yes I know about him. His trainer was killed defending the youngling's quarters, so was his brother just after he signed up for the Autobot army, he had a sister too but we never found her, we believe she may have been killed when we were trying to escape Cybertron"

"Poor little thing!" Chromia cooed, "Is he okay? I mean he's been floating out there a long time. He must be so lonely and scared,"

"Surprised he's still alive," Sideswipe said, "There has been a lot of Decepticon activity out there how has he managed to avoid them?"

"What's happening?" Optimus Prime asked as he approached the small group. Blaster told Prime what had happened. The Autobot leader pinched the bridge of his nose,

"I knew his parents; they were ambushed trying to escape Cybertron,"

A sombre silence fell over the group as they remembered the fateful day when Autobots fleeing Cybertron were picked off one by one by sniper fire. The Autobots tried to do something about it but the Decepticon snipers were too well hidden. Jazz lowered his head as a mark of respect,

"Well," he said slowly and quietly, "We will need to keep this one quiet. If Megatron or Starscream find out about him he won't stand a chance. Especially if he's received no training and he will probably be quite weak through lack of energon too,"

Everybody looked at Jazz; the happy mech sounded so sad but then it was a horrific sight as they saw Autobot friends and comrades fall in their plight for safety. Ironhide snorted as he felt anger surge through his spark,

"They were muredered, every single one of them…murdered!" the black mech growled as he trudged off. Chromia followed her bond mate and drew him into her arms. She'd lost many friends trying to escape Cybertron and the Decepticons.

Blaster opened his comm. Link again,

"Phoenix, do you have landing co-ordinates?"

"Negative," the orange and black mech replied, "My navigational systems were hit when I was hit by a meteor,"

Blaster twiddled a few knobs and buttons before he transmitted again,

"He's on course for landing just near us, about five miles away on the other side of the Island. He has another 24 earth hours before he hits the Earth's atmosphere," Blaster told the others,

"That's not so good, he might be seen," Flare up said,

"I'll speak to Major Lennox," Optimus Prime replied,

"Phoenix, stay on the course you're on now. Do not change your direction. We can see you on radar and we have picked up the co-ordinates of your landing site. Ratchet , our medic wants to speak to you and so does Optimus Prime our leader. Stay safe and be careful, the Decepticons …."

He picked up another blip, the signal was Decepticon,

"Phoenix, do you have weapon power? Because you have company and it's coming hot on your aft,"

Blaster moved out of the way so Optimus Prime could speak to him. He turned to Ratchet,

"This could get very messy!" Ratchet turned to Jolt,

"Let's get ready," Jolt didn't need to be told what to do, he went to the med bay, closely followed by Ratchet. They worked hard to get organised for the incoming mech who already had injuries.

"Is Soundwave still attached to the satellite?" Ironhide asked,

"No he's trying to locate Megatron and Starscream, we believe he's still on earth" Mirage replied.

"Well that's something then, we just need to make sure the Decepticons don't get wind of his imminent arrival," Ironhide replied,

"Autobots to the ops room._ Now!"_ Prime ordered his mechs.

Every Autobot mech and femme moved towards the ops room, except for Ratchet and Jolt who were preparing the med bay and Blaster remained at the computer to keep an eye on Phoenix and make sure his coordinates hadn't changed.

Phoenix was relieved to hear the friendly voices of Autobots even though he'd never met them. He gingerly moved further away from his hiding spot and continued on his quest to get to earth trying his hardest to avoid any more collisions. He was relieved when he got through the asteroid belt but he was conscious that there was nowhere else for him to hide or at least nowhere nearby. He was now very weak from lack of energon, in pain and beginning to woner if hed ever make it to earthr die in space. He looked around but couldn't see any Decepticons, as he looked ahead of him he stopped short,

"Woah!" he said to himself. The sight he saw was beautiful beyond belief; he saw a perfect sphere with various shades of blues, greens and browns. Part of it was covered with white swirls and it was huge...really huge. Half of it was dark with tiny pinpricks of light gathered in areas of landmass while the other half was in bright daylight, "I have never seen anything so beautiful," he opened his comm. Link,

"Hey Blaster tell me this beautiful blue planet I'm looking at is Earth,"

"Sure is Phoenix, welcome to Earth…your new home! Just be careful of the atmosphere because you will get to it shortly,"

Blaster continued to give Phoenix instructions to enter the Earth's atmosphere,

"Some of us will be there to greet you," Blaster promised,

Suddenly a shot was heard and Phoenix screamed. The youngling looked around and caught sight of Megatron and Starscream who were hot on his tail. Starscream had smoke coming out of his cannon and was preparing to fire another shot, _"Frag!" _Phoenix thought to himself. He prepared to take evasive action as figures and warnings started to flash in front of his screen; his vision becoming blurred,

"Phoenix, Phoenix, you there buddy? Phoenix answer," Blaster yelled as he opened his comm. Link to Optimus Prime

"**Prime, I think Phoenix has been shot**,"

Phoenix started to tumble as he tried to steady himself but the gravitational pull was getting too strong and he didn't get a chance to prepare himself for his entry into the eartyh's atmosphere,

"Must protect myself from the heat, must stay alive. Come on Phoenix, you can do it. Stay alive," he said to himself over and over again.

His chassis was burning from the plasma round which hit him, he curled himself up just as he hit the atmosphere. He was getting hotter and his energon loss was increasing as it became runnier with the heat. His cooling fans were desperately working overtime trying to keep him cool, the noise became defeaning and he was now begining to get very scared. Blaster watched the little Autobot signal on the screen,

"Easy there buddy, easy," he said quietly to himself as Optimus Prime,, Ironhide Ratchet, Jolt, Sunny, Sides, Mirage, Bumblebee, Arcee, Chromia, Flare up and Jazz raced to the landing sight.

Suddenly everything went quiet and cold but he was still flying very fast across the sky his body still glowing from the heat caused by his entry. Phoenix opened his optics to find himself no loner surrounded by the darkness of space but the brightness of daylight. Every now and then he would fly into cloud causing everything to go white, the first time scared him and he was happy to see the daylight again when he came out of the other side of the cloud.

* * *

Bumblebee remembered the youngling in the residence, although he only knew him for a short time before Bee enlisted with the Autobot army. He was a happy little thing and took to Bee so quickly; they formed a good friendship with each other and there was very little Bee would do without Phoenix. Bumblebee looked up into the sky along with the other 11 Autobots and Major Lennox's team who were guarding the landing site from any intrusions, and waited for the injured and weak mech to make landfall. The atmosphere among the group was intense as they continued to wait for Phoenix,

"I see him," Bee yelled,

The other Autobots looked up, he was coming towards them at great speed, but not alone

"This is not going to be good!" Ratchet told the others, "He's coming in too steep and too fast,"

"Yeah and with company," Ironhide growled,

The Autobots saw Megatron and Starscream and watched what their next move would be. The grey leader and seeker saw the huge group of Autobots and decided not to fight with them. They had already taken heavy losses and besides when that mech hit the gound at his speed and trajectory, what chance did he have? They came about and continued their journey towards the beacon Soundwave was using to guide them.

Finally the bright ball of fire flew over their heads,

Whoooosh!

The fiery mech hit the ground rolling over and over and over until he stopped in a crumpled heap in the middle of the circle; the other Autotbots raced towards him, Ratchet and Bumblebee reaching him first. He was still smouldering in places and there were flames in others. Phoenix lay there, his optics dimming and the pain becoming more intense. Slowly he lifted his head off the ground,

"I made it," he groaned,

"You certainly did," Ratchet chuckled as he placed a hand on his head to gently push him back down, "Just take it easy now,"

Ratchet quickly worked on him to stabilise the youngling before he could be moved. Jolt helped his mentor as he fought to keep the youngling's systems going,

"He's taken quite a beating and he's exhausted, it is going to be a while before he will be back to full health," Ratchet exclaimed, "I'm surprised he's managed to cope this long,"

Suddenly an energon line which had been weakened by his rough entry into the Earth's atmosphere suddenly burst. Phoenix's spark weakened rapidly, the pulse becoming fainter and harder to pick up and his colour started to fade to grey,

"No youngling don't do this to me. You've come through too much," Ratchet yelled, his fingers desperately working over the mech to keep him online. He picked up the line,

"Jolt quickly, hold this together," the medic ordered his apprentice.

Jolt held onto the energy line while Ratchet pulled a solution from his sub space and held it in the palm of his hand to warm it, he then poured it onto the wound and waited for it to cool. Ever so slowly the solution cooled and Phoenix's spark started to stabilise as his colour returned,

"Well done youngling," the medic said gently to his patient as he rubbed his helm. He looked up at Prime,

"We're ready to move him now,"

"How are we going to get him to the base?" Arcee asked,

"Put the little runt in my back, he should just about fit," Ironhide said,

"He's not a runt," Ratchet replied,

"It's a term of affection," Ironhide shot back at the medic, "I have a lot of respect for him, he's been through alot,"

"As we all have Ironhide," Prime replied as he placed a hand on his weapon's specialist's shoulder before transforming so that Jolt and Ratchet could put Phoenix into his back,

"Let's go!" Prime said.

All the way back Ratchet had his scanners trained on Phoenix but he remained stable all the way back to the base. Ironhide drove up to the door to Ratchet's med bay so that they could take him inside and Ratchet and Jolt could start treating him. Bumblebee waited patiently to hear news about the youngling whom he'd grown to love. A bleep came through from Sam,

"Hey Bee, where are you?"

"I'm at the base Sam, a new mech came in today but he is seriously injured and unwell. He is just a youngling,"

"A youngling?...but Bee I thought you said..."

"I'll explain it to you later, anyway aren't you supposed to be in class,"

"Huh? Oh no it's my lunchbreak, thought I'd speak to you, I really miss you,"

"Yeah I miss you too Sam," Bee replied.

The door to the med bay opened, Ratchet stood by the scout,

"Sam I have to go," Bee said.

"He's been asking after you. You may go in and see him but make it quick he needs to recharge and I want him to go into temporary stasis," Ratchet said.

Bee walked in to find Phoenix laying on a berth, his optics were dim but he was functioning well. Around his wounds was dried energon which had now crusted and was glistening like sapphires in the sunlight coming through the windows. The youngling was connected to various tubes and wires which were allowing energon to slowly flow into Phoenix's systems and monitoring the tiny mech's spark pulse. Phoenix held up his hand for Bee who hold it,

"Hi friend, he said quietly and weakly, "Good to see you again,"

"Sure is Phoenix," Bee replied,

"So what have you been up to?" Phoenix asked with a cheeky grin then flinched as a surge of pain shot through his systems,

"Take it easy Phoenix, we'll catch up when you're better," Bee replied.

Bee heard Ratchet's footsteps approaching the berth where the youngling was laying,

"Okay Bee I need you to leave now," he said quietly

Phoenix watched as Ratchet produced a huge needle and brought it down towards Phoenix's arm. The younging started to panic, but settled down when Jolt held his hand,

"Ssshhh just rest now Phoenix, I'm putting you into temporary stasis until your protoform has healed sufficiently," Ratchet said as he injected a serum into a small hole in the side of Phoenix's arm

The youngling heard his systems slowly powering down as he went into stasis; he looked up at the medic who was gradually fading into blackness,

"You'll be okay youngling," were the last words of reassurance he heard from Ratchet before he was completely in stasis.

The medic looked up at Jolt,

"He is stable but we will need to keep an eye on him through the first few days. I'll take the first shift, you get some rest. Good work today Jolt,"

"Thank you sir"

Jolt left the med bay and walked to the rec room; he was gasping for a cube of energon and a recharge. Sideswipe was in the rec room with the twins, Ironhide, Chromia, Arcee and Bee,

"How's the youngling?" Ironhide asked,

"Stable," Jolt replied,

"He's been through so much the poor little thing," Arcee said.

* * *

Three vorns later.

Mikaela had started to spend her spare time with the Autobots especially with Sam away at college. On this occasion she was with Ratchet helping him in the med bay; he was making sure Phoenix's systems were all functioning properly before bringing the youngling back online,

"Ready Mikaela?" the medic asked as he lifted the youngling's head up to start his systems,

"Ready," Mikaela replied,

"Okay, optics?" Mikaela watched carefully, then ever so slowly his optics started to light up,

"Online," she replied,

"Good, audio sensors?" Ratchet asked,

"Phoenix," Mikaela called...nothing,

"Phoenix," she called again,

Amongst the fuzziness Phoenix could hear a femme's voice calling him,

"Mum?" he called, "Mum is that you?" he muttered out loud.

Mikaela giggled at being called mum by a huge robot. Phoenix turned around to the sound of the femme. His vision was coming back slowly but still blurry,

"Mum," he called again. Once again the giggles, _"I don't know what's so funny,_" he felt a little disgruntled by the fits of giggles. Finally his vision cleard and he could see a...,

"Aaaahhhh," he screamed,

Phoenix's scream frightened the life out of Mikaela who screamed a high pitched scream causing Ratchet to wince. Mikaela fell backwards and tumbled off the side of the berth. Ratchet swooped down and caught her in his hand,

"Got you," he said. He lifted her back up to look her over, her long black hair tangled through his fingers. Once he'd scanned her and was satisfied she had sustained no serious injury he glared back at the young mech writhing and screaming on the berth,

"Phoenix, calm down!" Ratchet barked,

"What is it?" he screamed,

"_It _is a she and a human, they are the inhabitants of this planet. She won' t harm you, she is helping me. Now calm down! You're frightening her,"

Ever so slowly Phoenix started to calm down but Ratchet still wasn't willing to place Mikaela back on the berth, not until he knew she would be safe around the huge mech,

"You okay?" he asked Phoenix,

"Yeah I'm okay," Phoenix said feeling ashamed by his outburst,

"Good I don't want anything like that from you again. Let me introduce you to Mikalea. She is a human and a friend who has helped us greatly in our battles wiot the Decepticons. Her boyfriend Sam who is now in college killed Megatgron but unfortunatly the Decepticon is alive again with Starscream...hiding since their defeat in Egypt,"

"What? A little thing like her killed Megatron?"

"Yes he did," the medic replied,

"Can I see her?"

Ratchet looked down into his hand where Mikaela was sitting. He raised his optic ridges at her questioningly, Mikaela nodded in affirmation. Ratchet gently placed her on the berth next to Phoenix,

"Mikaela meet Phoenix, a youngling who survived the war on Cybertron and thousands of vorns in space,"

"Hello Mikaela, sorry for frightening you," Phoenix said shyly,

"That's okay. Hi," Mikaela replied with a smile,

"Wow," the youngling tried to sit up but Ratchet pushed him back down again,

"Easy there," he soothed, "You've only just come out of temporary stasis,"

Phoenix obediently lay back down and looked at Mikaela again,

"You're so tiny," he replied as he gingerly placed a finger on her head and stroked her hair being careful not to be too hard, "And so soft and warm," Mikaela blushed at the action from the youngling.

It had been a while since Phoenix had come out of stasis and he had become good friends with Mikaela. Ratchet really needed a cube of energon and he had to attend a meeting Prime had called to discuss the youngling, he wondered if Mikaela would be safe in there alone. Phoenix noticed the medic looking at him and then at Mikaela who was helping Ratchet clean his tools while talking and laughing Phoenix. Against his better judgement the medic decided to leave Mikaela with him, after the black and orange younging had reassured the medic she'd be safe with him. Ratchet left the med bay with dread at what he'd come back to and tried to reassure himself he needn'tworry. Phoenix was beginning to bcome aware of how fragile a human was.

Everybody on the base was starting to talk about the young mech. It was a long time since the Autobots had a Cybertronian so young amongst them but there was also an air of concern amongst the them; if the Decepticons found out they had a youngling they could come after him especially as he was so vulnerable. Prime walked into the main room to address his soldiers,

"Autobots," he said, the whole room went quiet as they waited for their leader to continue, "As you know we have a young mech amongst us. He is allowed to come out of the med bay tomorrow but we need to protect him. He will be vulnerable and doesn't yet understand the pitfalls of living on earth amongst the humans. He needs to learn these things and understand the ever present danger of the Decepticons,"

"How are we going to keep his presence secret from the Decepticons?" Prowl asked,

"The only people who know of his existance are Lennox's team and us," the leader replied,

"What about his weapons?" Ironhide asked, "Yeah what are they," Chromia chipped in,

"Ratchet hasn't onlined them yet, he says he used one on Starscream...a flame thrower,"

"Now that I have to see," Ironhide said with a wry smile, "We'll train him," the weapons specialist offered,

"I knew I cold rely on you Ironhide," Prime replied,

"Sunstreaker,Sideswipe I need you two to teach him how to defend himself,"

"We will," the two front line warriors replied,

"Remember he is young and has been used to his own company for a long time. Ratchet is going to bring him out to meet you all later on today,"

Once the meeting had ended and Ratchet had answered individual questions the medic rushed back to the med bay only to find his fears dissolved when he found Mikaela still sitting on the berth opposite him talking about earth. The medic leaned against the door frame, folded his arms and smiled at the pair for a while keeping as quiet as possible so as not to disturb them. Mikaela caught Ratchet in her vision and smiled at the medic. Phoenix looked around and smiled when he saw Ratchet,

"Hey Ratchet I really like the sound of earth and I hope I get to meet some more humans because Mikaela is really nice,"

The young woman blushed again at Phoenix's compliment and enthusiasm,

"And do you know what Rachet, the humans named a town in Arizona after me,"

Mikalea looked up at the black and orange mech and snickered, Ratchet burst into fits of laughter. Jolt heard the medic laughing heartily and went to see what had amused him. When he got there he saw Phoenix looking bemused on the berth and the medic sitting on the edge laughing until energon tears were running down his face,

"Uhm...no Phoenix," Mikaela wondered how she was going to correct him without hurting his feelings, " We didn't name the town after you,"

"Oh," Phoenix's face fell. Mikalea felt sad for the little mech.

Jolt chuckled to himself when he saw the scene in the med bay, then he approached Ratchet,

"Sir the others are asking when they can meet Phoenix"

Phoenix looked at Jolt with a panicked look on his face,

"Well come on then," the medic replied, he got up from the berth and took Phoenix's hand and looked at him, "Phoenix it's time to meet your new family,"

"What do you mean?" Phoenix asked happily, "Are my parents here?"

"No Phoenix," Ratchet replied sadly, painfully aware that he would have to tell Phoenix the truth some time soon, "You are coming to meet the rest of the Autobot team today,"

"Wha...I c-can't," Phoenix stuttered,

"You're okay," Mikaela replied, as she stood up, "You can carry me if you want,"

Phoenix gently picked her up and allowed her to get herself comfortable in his hand. Ratchet walked towards him and held his other hand; it had never occurred to him the youngling may be shy,

"One step at a time," Ratchet said gently as he pulled him up from the berth,

Ever so slowly they walked out of the med bay and down the corridor. Phoenix looked all around him as they walked through the strange environment, thinking how much it was like the younglings quarters on Cybertron. A sudden pang of sadness hit his spark and an energon tear slipped into his optics. He could hear the noise of voices floating down the corridor and started to drag on Ratchet's hand. The medic looked behind him,

"Hush little one," he soothed, "They only want to meet you,"

Ratchet slowly opened the door and walked into the main room,

"Everybody meet Phoenix," he said,

The room went quiet and every pair of optics were on the orange and black youngling, Phoenix hid behind the medic shaking. Chromia got up and walked behind Ratchet,

"Hello little one," she gently cooed getting down to his level, "My name is Chromia,"

"Oh...uh...h-hello Chromia," he said quietly.

Chromia smiled and held out her hand inviting the youngling to take it, Phoenix stood there for a minute not quite sure what to do. Chromia reassuringly lifted an optic ridge at him inviting Phoenix to take it. Ever so slowly he let go of Ratchet's hand and took hold of Chromia's hand. The blue femme gently pulled him out from behind Ratchet in full view of everybody. There were gasps of amazemant as he came out of his hiding place behind Ratchet, the orange and black mech looked around at every single pair of optics staring at him, his fingers of his other hand slowly curling around Mikaela,

"Ahh look at the tiny little critter, he's so cute isn't he Skids," Mudflap said as he went to step towards Phoenix but Sideswipe held him back,

"You'll scare the little fella," he said quietly,

"Uhm...Phoenix," Mikaela called, "I'm still in your hand,"

Bumblebee immediately got up and rescued Mikaela from his hand before she was squashed. Optimus Prime stepped forward and bent down to look the youngling optic to optic,

"Hello Phoenix," he said quietly and gently in the hope he didn't frighten the youngling, "My name is Optimus Prime and I am the Autobot leader. You've already met Chromia, Ratchet, Jolt and Mikaela," the huge mech then started to introduce Phoenix to the other Autobots but he didn't take any notice, the flames on Optimus Prime were more interesting. Bumblebee noticed this and pointed down towards Phoenix, when the youngling didn't hear Optimus Prime talking anymore he looked up and blushed when he saw everybody smiling at him; they all laughed. Suddenly a siren went off.

A man in an official blue suit and glasses came bursting into the base. Chromia quickly picked up Phoenix, Ironhide came and stood beside his mate, glaring menacingly at the obnoxious human who was closely followed by Lennox and his team who were making their feelings known about his uninvited visit. Galloway didn't miss the icy reception,

"What's he doing here?" Sideswipe seethed

"Optimus Prime," he looked at Chromia with the small transformer, "What's he doing here. Another one of you to add to your little...army, how many more of you are there?"

Galloway moved towards the small mech but Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Blaster and Jazz moved toward Chromia and Phoenix while Ironhide growled and slitted his optics. Galloway looked around at the humans and Autobots who were glaring at him and nervously watching the Autobots to see what they'd do. The National Security Advisor was unaware of Phoenix being the only surviving youngling from that fateful attack and then surviving his lonely journey through space,

"We don't know Mr. Galloway but let me assure you we are not here to cause you any harm," Optimus Prime replied as patiently as possible,

"Well I don't know about that, do I?" the National Security Advisor replied sarcastically, "All I know is that more of you have arrived and you still don' know where Megatron and Starscream are or the other one who hijacked our satellite. What's his name," he closed his eyes and clicked his fingers but nobody offered him an answer, "Before we know it they'll be so many of you, you will take over our earth,"

Ratchet snorted at that notion then looked at him, the thought of squishing the _squishy little insect_ under his big foot was very tempting but thought better of it,

"Well if there are any more of you tell them not to come to earth...," Galloway ordered,

"Well where else are they going to go to?" Mikaela laughed unable to believe the stupidity of Galloway,

"Shhh Kaela," Bee replied as he soothed his charge

"You want to watch who you're speaking to," Major Lennox got right into the National Security Advisors face,

"No, you'd better watch who you're speaking to, _Major Lennox_" he spat back poking Will in the chest,

"That's enough!" Prime barked glaring at the men. He turned to Galloway, "I will not have you treating anybody, human or transformer in this manner. We do not know if anymore of us are coming but you can be rest assured if they're Autobot they aren't here to hurt you," Prime replied impatiently,

"Although it would be tempting to do so," Sunstreaker growled,

"Easy there Sunstreaker," Sideswipe whispered to his brother,

"Oh boy," Epps said quietly to himself, "The big guy is getting narked,"

"No more transformers on earth, including _him,"_ Galloway replied as he pointed at Phoenix who whimpererd and buried his face into Chromia's shoulder,

"Sshh, it's alright little one," she gently cooed.

Ironhide growled and narrowed his optics as he onlined his weapons,

"Woah, woah, woah. Easy big guy," Lennox said as he ran to the angry weapon's specialist and quickly talked him into off lining his weapons,

"Galloway, get out of here. _Now!_" Lennox yelled at the obnoxious man.

The atmosphere suddenly became intense as Galloway stood staring at the Autobot leader. He shook his head and stormed out,

"And don't come back," Skids yelled after the human,

"That man is an irritant," Ironhide replied as he turned back to his mate holding the tiny mech and stroked his head,

"Don't worry about him," he said soothingly then put his arm around Chromia drawing her to him.

Phoenix looked at Mikaela sitting in Bumblebee's hand and tried to understand how she could be so nice yet the suit who came in was so horrible. The medic watched him as he looked to Mikaela then to the man getting in his car , then he looked up to the medic,

"**I'll explain later little one,"**

"**Mikaela Autobot. Galloway Decepticon,"**

Galloway drove away from the Autobot base seething. The last thing he wanted was more transformers on earth but he knew he was powerless to stop them.

Ratchet knew what Phoenix meant but to say yes straight out would further confuse him and could cause problems with human Autobot relationships later. He had to be very careful how he answered this one. Phoenix looked around at the humans from his safe perch in Chromia's arms. He was amazed at how all the humans were so different, but he was also a little bit unsure about them now after Galloway had been to the base,

"Don't worry about him," Epps reassured the orange and red mech, "Not every human is like him,"

"Yes," Prime continued, "The humans on this base and many more who know of us but are not on this base are our allies too, but be warned Phoenix Galloway is one of many humans who don't appreciate us being here,"

Even though Phoenix wasn't as big as the other transformers he was still scared he'd stand on the humans. He wriggled out of Chromia's arms and stood on the ground, relieved when he saw Lennox, Epps and the others move away to give him more space,

"Thanks little humans," he said

Lennox and Epps looked at each other, both with an expression to show they were unhappy with the "little humans" comment. Jazz saw the humans expression, he smiled when they both smiled at each other,

"Phoenix, these humans are fully grown adults, the don't like being referred to as "little humans" You just need to call them by their designation," Jazz said,

"Oh...sorry," Phoenix replied blushing at his mistake, "What are your designations?"

Major Lennox stepped forward and introduced himself as Will, he then carried on introducing the rest of his team. Phoenix greeted everybody individually but knew it would be a while before he could remember them all. He looked around at all the new friends he had, both Autobot and human; he then turned to Ratchet,

"I have lots of new friends here but where are my mother and father, brother and sister," the atmosphere suddenly got very sombre. Optimus Prime looked at the humans who politely excused themselves while Chromia hugged the small youngling. Prime got down to his level so he was optic to optic with the orange and black youngling,

"Phoenix, the day the youngling's quarters were attacked was a suprise for us all," the Autoot leader said sadly, "Many lives were lost in the battle and trying to escape, we believe your parents were amongst them,"

Ratchet stepped forward,

"I knew your brother, he fought bravely but I couldn't save him. Phooenix I'm so sorry," the medic said sadly,

"What about Eclipse?" he asked sadly.

Optimus Prime cycled air through his vents, the silence said it all. Phoenix looked around at the mechs and femme, tears forming in the corner of his eyes as he whined and clicked inconsolably. Chromia picked him up and did the same back trying to soothe him as if he was her own child.

Ironhide stood in front of his mate and wrapped his arms around them both gently rubbing the youngling's head. He then led them away to their quarters so Phoenix could grieve privately,

"We're your family now Phoenix," he said gently,

"Yeah," Jazz chipped in, "All of us"

* * *

The End.


End file.
